Thinking Makes It So

What were you thinking about before you came to this page? What was on your mind? Thoughts running over and over again like a broken record almost without your awareness. It’s something you want to pay attention to, because your thoughts shape your reality.

The thoughts that dominate your mind—more than anything around you—color the experiences you have. Science has repeatedly demonstrated the significant impact of our thoughts on our bodies. More and more, studies are showing that it’s really a matter of mind over body.

You’ve heard about the placebo effect. People who are given sugar pills or saline injections have experienced relief from their symptoms. Well, the placebo effect is even stronger than what we think about pills and shots. Dr. J. Bruce Moseley tested the placebo effect with arthroscopic knee surgery, a common procedure performed hundreds of times a year on patients with knee problems.

One group of patients had the full procedure, another group got part of the procedure, and the rest got just a simulated procedure—only their incisions were real. All of the patients thought they had been given the full surgery. Two weeks afterward, the two placebo groups had less pain and greater improvement on walking and stair-climbing tests. A year later, they were still doing better than those who had the complete surgical procedure.

Consider the thoughts that repeatedly run through your mind every day. Negative thoughts limit your performance while positive thoughts improve it. So what kind of thoughts do you want to have?

Choose not to conjure up frightening scenarios, but instead focus on the outcomes you most desire. By doing this, you can choose thoughts that take you in the direction you really want to go!